This invention relates to devices for providing infusions of a plurality of fluids repeatably to a patient. In particular, the invention relates to a multiple needle holder and subcutaneous multiple channel infusion port.
Implantable vascular access devices are well known in the art. A conventional implantable port includes a single reservoir having a catheter attached thereto. The catheter is fed into a blood vessel in a patient's body. Fluid injected into the reservoir of the implanted port flows through the catheter and into the blood stream. The infusion port is implanted beneath the skin of the patient. The top of the port has a septum which is penetrable by a hypodermic needle. Thus, conventional injections of medicament into a patient having an implanted port are made by inserting a needle through the patient's skin and through the septum in the infusion port. Fluid is injected through the needle and into the reservoir of the port where it passes into the catheter and out into the blood stream.
Experimentation and advances in medicine are creating new needs for infusing more than a single fluid into a patient. There are many applications for which there is a need for intravenous administration of a plurality of fluid solutions. One such application is the use of chemotherapy to treat such diseases as cancer. Attempts at providing more advanced chemotherapy regimens involving the intravenous administration of a multiplicity of drug solutions are being inhibited by a lack of equipment to simplify such a procedure. The use of implanted infusion ports for delivering drug solutions to a patient are desirable since they deliver the fluid solution directly into the blood stream where it is quickly delivered throughout the body.
A dual reservoir double lumen implantable vascular access port is presently available. This dual lumen implantable port made available by Cormed, Inc. of Medina, New York has two separate stainless steel reservoirs mounted in a silicone rubber base. Each reservoir is connected to an individual branch of a double lumen catheter. Each reservoir has its own septum through which a needle may be inserted to inject fluid into a patient. This dual lumen port has the limitation of only allowing for the injection of two fluids simultaneously. A further disadvantage of this device is that, when used for continuous infusion, two separate catheters would hang from the patient, each connected to one of two needles.